Campaign financing

(originally posted on 20 July 2006)
At the end of my last blog I promised to write about my research trip to Bosnia, Croatia and Russia. Since this is a chronicle of my political life, not my professional one, suffice it to say that the trip was very productive. I gave two talks at a workshop at the University of Tuzla (Bosnia), interacted with two research groups at Rudjer Boskovic Institute (Croatia), and participated in a test run at the Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics (ITEP) in Moscow. I even managed to hop down to southern Russia, to Rostov-on-Don, to meet with the church with which I have interacted for years as chair of the Russian Missions Committee at my home church, University Church of Christ in Abilene. It was nice to get away from the campaign for two weeks, to be totally absorbed in my physics presentations and research, and to touch base with my fellow physics collaborators. And to meet with Christians at a church that we have helped established in a country that, not too many years ago, would not have allowed an independent assembly of believers.

But what captured my attention this morning (20 July 2006) was an article in the Abilene Reporter-News (ARN) on the financing of the congressional campaigns in this area of Texas. It was written by Jerry Daniel Reed and Trish Choate. Jerry Reed called me yesterday to ask how much money I had received and spent. Jerry has covered me in the past on my trips to then-exotic places (such as Russia), so I knew I could speak freely with him. I told him I had received nothing (a big fat zero) and had spent little (rental for the two facilities for the announcements came to less than $500, this web site was slightly more than $200 for two years, and the flat screen monitor for the slide presentations was about $1500, but I can use that as a neat TV in my home). Actually, I have received two offers for donations. The first from a Croatian physicist (and a friend/mentoree of mine). I checked the campaign finance laws and learned that foreign nationals are ineligible to contribute. Which was a relief since I would feel uncomfortable accepting money from someone whose salary is a fraction of mine. But I admit I was flattered that he asked to contribute, regardless of the amount. The other person who asked to contribute is an elder at my church whom I respect greatly. He made the offer to Ginna while I was away and she told me about it when I returned. I saw him at church on Sunday and he made a statement to the effect of “let me know how I can help, let me know any way that I can help”. I smiled, saying “you must like betting on long shots at horse races”. I think his reply was “I’ve never bet on a horse race, but I want to help you in what you are doing.” At which point I said “thank you”, smiled and walked away. I have to decide how I will handle contributions. I really think I’m going to win this race, at least if it’s based on issues. I may be deluding myself, but I really cannot understand how anyone can vote for the incumbent (or anyone in the Republican party who has put us through the recent debacles) and still sleep at night.

Getting back to the point, the following is a list of the “campaign war chests” for the three incumbent (Republican) congressmen in and around Abilene, as reported this morning in the ARN:
District 11, Mike Conaway (Midland) $438,412
District 13, Mac Thornberry (Clarendon) $466,447
District 19, Randy Neugebauer (Lubbock) >$1,000,000!
Of course, it caught my eye that the first two candidates reported exact amounts while the incumbent in my district reported “just more than $1 million”. I’ve seen $1,000,000 once, a pile of $1 bills in a museum. It’s a lot of money, at least by some standards.

So, my question is “who gives that kind of money to a campaign”? To me, the answer is obvious: someone who expects a return on their investment and wants to influence future votes in Congress. I’ve actually encountered a few avid Neugebauer supporters in my quest for signatures (less than 10 out of approximately 500 signatures so far). Somehow, they did not strike me as people who could or would make a big contribution to anyone. When I questioned with something like “Tell me why you like Randy Neugebauer” they responded with an (almost automatic) reply such as “Why are you running against a good Republican? Don’t you watch Fox News? “ Again, I walked away, biting my lip.

More later. I (we?) have an uphill battle. I can’t (at least I won’t) compete with “>$1,000,000”. But I have to think that the voters in this district can and will see through the money (and the big billboards and the TV ads to come) and use their heads to vote right! Maybe not for me, but for Robert Ricketts (democrat). Or perhaps Fred Jones (libertarian, whom I have never met and know little about). But we have to find a better congressman than the incumbent who is not addressing the issues and merely follows the party line. His voting record coincided with Tom DeLay 95% of the time, according to information I obtained from the web.